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The Roman Empire had the following dynamism which can be taken into consideration as under:
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| The Roman Empire |
1. Geo-strategic Location
The Roman Empire had a very important Geo-strategic location. It was beleaguered by seven hills. It was situated at a place where a bridge was constructed on the River Tiber. It had a natural defence. To defend against the enemy, it could very easily be fortified. Thus, it was likely to defend against the largest armies.
2. Fertile Land
The empire was bestowed with fertile land which helped it to grow. Although the land was limited yet the fertility was the cause of economic stability in the empire.
3. Beginning of Native Rule
In the beginning, the foreign rulers ruled Italy. However, the
Italians used to hate the outsiders' rule. Ultimately, they overthrew Tarquin
The Proud, the last outsider ruler, marking the aperture of the independent
era.
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| The Roman Architecture |
4. Military Training
In the beginning years of democracy, it was mandatory to serve on military fronts. The democratic ruler of the empire emphasised maintaining military discipline very strictly. According to Poly Bius, the historian of the second century BC, the military courts were set up to trial those soldiers who were found sleeping during their duty.
The soldier who was vindicated as a criminal was stoned to death there at the spot and those who escaped from death were not allowed to come back at home. No one from family members was allowed to let him stay at his house. In the Roman Army, the night guard was strictly required to be fulfilled which the soldiers used to perform (Encyclopedia Britannica).
5. Oligarchy
In the following years, group aristocrats used to reign from the key posts within the governments. However, the people started to demand their rights. The Romans acknowledged their demands for the time being.
6. Demand for Written Law
The public representatives were of the demand that the law should be given a written form so that the public may protect their rights. Accordingly, a commission was formulated that constituted the law in a written form. This written form was known as 12 boards’ because it was carved on 12 wooden boards which used to consult every person to defend his rights.
7. Downfall of Democracy
Over time, it experienced social and administrative corruption which derailed the state of internal stability and peace. Subsequently, every commander asserted his influence and authority as an autonomous in his respective territory. Accordingly, the federation weakened and appeared as incapable of defending its land against the invaders.
8. Dictatorship
Thus, a dictatorship-era ushered. The commander Maris who gained military prestige due to victories in North Africa and Gaul in 101 and 112 BC respectively started the governmental affairs on the path of dictatorship. Afterwards, the commander Sulla became dictator on the death of Maris in 86 BC.
9. Revival of Democracy
Octavian after occupying Egypt strive to revive democracy but he failed badly. With this, he also wished to strengthen his rule in which he remained successful. He termed himself the Savior of democracy.
10. Beginning of Kings
After the Octavian era, the kingship started which lasted till the end. Meanwhile, the Prophet Christ AS came and became the target of Jews Conspiracies. Later on, King Constantine held a religious conference in Nicaea in 325 BC and declared himself as Christian and also declared Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Following this revolution, the Roman Empire rose to new heights and ruled over the entire littorals of the Mediterranean Sea and beyond for almost a couple of centuries.
The Relationship between Empire and Religion
In the beginning era, the Roman followed an ancient religion of nature which was much influential in a small state where farmers used to live. The following features in this regard can be taken into account:
A. The Romans worship the spirits who were found around human settlements, springs and agricultural fields, etc. The simple farmers believed in them enthusiastically as per their belief system.
B. The Romans of the last era of democracy had worshipped the gods of the Olympus Mountains at the time when all entities of Greece had integrated. They named these gods and idols as per their native language (Juno: Jupiter). They used to worship these man-made Gods for centuries.
C. Following the above-said era, The Prophet Christ AS was sent by Allah SWT which preached the Sacred Name of Allah SWT before the people.
The Jews took this sacred message as a threat to their ascendancy. So they turned enemy to the Christ AS. They were very influential and influenced the people not to accept the sacred message. So, only 12 persons accepted the message of the Prophet Christ AS. Then, his Excellency was called back to the skies.
Afterwards, his 12 companions started to spread his religion passionately. Accordingly, whoever accepted the message of the Prophet Christ AS was destined to face tortures. The first incident of torture to the followers of the Prophet Christ AS took place in 64 AD in the reign of King Nero.
According to Tacitus the historian, King Nero had termed the Fire of Rum as the offence of the Christians. At the end of this saga, the king sentenced a group of people who were the followers of the message of the Prophet Christ AS. (History of Civilisations: p.182).
This torturing trend used to prevail for many centuries. However, this religion (Christianity) became popular in the Roman Empire.
Gabon's Assessment
Gabon has summarised the relationship between The Roman Empire and religion as follows:
A. Jews were very enthusiastic towards their religion. However, due to their UN-accepting attitude towards non-Jews, people used to accept the message of the Prophet Christ AS.
B. For the future life, the message of the Prophet Christ AS attracted the people in large numbers which they accepted.
C. The influential powers that were associated with the Church in the beginning period of the Church accepted Christianity and worked for its spread in the empire.
D. There was a strong relationship, discipline, and affiliation between the Christian democracy and the empire (History of Civilisations: p.187). That is why Christianity spread to every corner of the empire.
Romans Longing for Religion
Encyclopedia Britannica
explains the concept of worship as follows:
There was nothing new for
Greeks in Christianity because it was the continuation of Idol worshipping. The
old idols that protect their citizens in the past were again their protectors.
Although Christianity was
deeply entrenched in roman society till the beginning of the fourth century yet
a heinous competition within its adherents began which was a cause of the bad
situation for the Christian community.
Major Changes under Constantine
During the Constantine regime,
two major changes took place. First, the Kind accepted Christianity and
denounced idol worshipping. He also debunked the ritual of worshipping the kings
that were prevailing for centuries. Second, he converted Byzantium as the
capital of the empire. It was known as now the second Rome.
Hereafter, Constantinople was
constructed where the capital was shifted. It was the centre of Christianity.
It has a distinction of being the pure Christian city on one hand and the hub
of the Greek civilisation and culture. It had never been the city of idol worship.
Constantine established the
church as a governmental department that was directly controlled by him and the
later kings. Whenever paganism was oriented by a king, the followers of
Christianity resisted and thwarted the old bad pathways.
Internal Rift
The encyclopedia Britannica emphasised the division of the different sects within Christianity based on the
ideological lineage. According to it, the saga of internal rift remained longer
for centuries. Hereafter, the concept of three started in Christianity.
George William Nike said in
his thesis on Christianity, “The Christ AS has not claimed him to be
supernatural. But his Excellency was restrictively projecting that being a son
of Marry and Josef is enough for him.”
In the end, it is mandatory to
mention that before the beginning of Islam, the Roman Empire, whose official
religion was Christianity and the adherence to Christianity was a matter of
pride for them, was facing a much-deteriorated situation regarding the sects
within the Christianity.
Sociopolitical Conditions of the Roman Empire
The Sociopolitical conditions of the Roman Empire can be taken into consideration as follows:
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| Roman State |
Two Segments-Societies
The empire was socially divided into two segments. The first
segment was the aristocrats. The second was consisting of prosperous persons.
They enjoyed the full rights of citizenry which possessed larger parts of
fertile lands.
The whole people consisting of this segment lived a life of
luxuries. Some of the individuals also used to work in their agricultural
fields.
An individual from the aristocratic segment, namely Cincinnatus
played his heroic role in defending the empire as a commander in chief in the
5th century BC. Interestingly, whenever, he was invited to wage a war, was
found busy in plough in his fields.
Unprivileged Public
A large chunk of the population belonged to the public. They
were partially citizens. At the beginning of the democratic era, they were not
allowed to be enlisted in the Army and perform security chores.
Political Rights
However, they enjoyed specific political rights unlikely the
slaves of Sparta who were deprived of any political rights. After the
demolition of kingship, the aristocrats occupied the entire institutions of the
democracy.
Senate and Assembly
The members of the senate and assembly were selected from the
aristocratic segment. The counsel was also taken from the said above segment
which was selected for one year and given the authority of the administration.
One group of the council was also bestowed a veto power against the other
group.
In ordinary circumstances, the council as per the counsel of the
senate ran the governmental affairs. The numbers of senate members were 300 who
were taken from the aristocratic segment. The senate had the power to veto the
decisions taken by the assembly. The citizens of the empire had a right to
participate in the assembly.
Change in Government System
The public did not endorse the monopoly of the aristocratic
segment in the national decision making. So, they started to demand their basic
rights. The Roman Empire considering the sensitivity of the circumstances
accepted the public demands and brought a change in the governmental system.
The public was given the following rights:
1. A Right to marry in
the aristocratic segment
2. Right to become a
member of the senate
3. Right to select on the
position of Counsel
These members from the public also constituted the rules for
loans and the cultivatable lands. Before this time, the farmers were forced to
withdraw from the ownership rights of their lands due to the inability to
reimburse the loans. The democratic government introduced laws for not awarding
sentences to those who were indebted and also limitations were designed for the
feudal. Nobody was allowed to possess a land more than a declared limit.
Federation and Non-Interference
The federation rarely interferes in the decisions and
authorities set by the counsel if the following conditions and responsibilities
are sincerely fulfilled:
1. The council paid the
set taxes by the government.
2. At a time of war, it
provided the soldiers.
3. It played its due role
in worshipping the king.
No Spending on Education
During
the kingship era, the governments had never ensured
spending on the educational institutes. And no governmental patronage
was seen
during this era. Thus, the educational expenditure at that time was
less-affordable. Only the rich can afford to educate their children in
educational
institutes.
Justinian Era and Educational Apathy
During the Justinian era, the institutes which used to impart
the education of philosophy and oratory art were shut off. The properties
associated with these institutes were confiscated by the government. He banned
all institutes in Athens in 529 AD. Thus, the Greek philosophy ceased to spread
after it lit the light for almost 11 centuries.
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